How Will Santa Find Us?
by suspencer
Summary: Walt worries about everyone and everything. He worries about everything from the water supply, being rescued to whethor or not Santa would beable to find them for christmas. He worries about everyone too. He worried about everyone from Mr.Dr. Jack, to tha


**Series: LOST** **writer**: suspencer 

**claims:** I don't own them I just like to play with them. 

**characters:** Hurley and his band of misfit toys. 

**Rated:** Not for anyone that doesn't believe in the spirit of christmas!!!!

How Will Santa Find Us? 

Walt was bored.

Correction.

Walt was bored and depressed.

He let out a sigh as he threw Vincent's ball across the beach. He picked up an errant stick and started doodling in the sand.

"Hey, dude." Called out Hurley as he lumbered awkwardly towards him. "What's up?"

Walt shrugged. "Nothin'."

"Oh… Is it okay if I sit here?" He motioned next to him.

Walt shrugged again. "Sure, doesn't really matter, I guess."

"Cool." He carefully sat down next to him and watched what Walt was doing. "Dang, dude, how come you never told me about this spot?" He asked after a second.

Walt shrugged, looking away. "Didn't think none of the adults would care."

"Psshaw. Dude, do I _look _like an adult?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Walt couldn't help but chuckle. "No, not really."

Hurley let out a relieved breath. "Good, I was beginning to worry there for a second."

Walt nodded. "Yeah, you're not an adult. Well, not yet at least. But when you do start being one, you won't want to sit with me anymore." He sighed sadly, looking around sadly.

Hurley watched him for a long moment before asking. "Walt, can I ask you a question… Wait. Can I ask you a _few _questions?"

Walt shrugged, he seemed to do that a lot, Hurley noted mentally. "Sure, go ahead."

"You sit here and you can watch what everyone is doing on the entire beach. _Why_?"

Walt almost shrugged, but decided against, instead, he turned to Hurley and smiled sadly. "I worry about them."

"Them?"

"Everyone." He answered, his eyes sweeping across the expanse of the beach. Jack, Sayid and Kate were talking outside of the medical tent. Sawyer was swimming, Claire and Charlie were talking under a shade tree, Charlie's hand was on the swell of her stomach as they talked softly. Jin was chopping wood. Locke was preparing that nights feast of boar, with a side of boar. Shannon was resting after a slight asthma attack with Boone at her side. Sun and Michael, however, were conspicuously absent from the group.

"Whoa, dude, you're like 8--"

"Ten, I'm ten." he corrected softly.

"Sorry, dude. But you're only ten. You shouldn't be worrying about everyone else. You should be, like, worried about girls, and cooties, and your dog, and… I don't know… Small stuff. You're just a kid, enjoy it. Let the adults be the responsible ones."

Walt looked away, his eyes darkening. "I haven't been a kid in a long time, Mr. Hurley." He whispered sadly.

"Oh, do you mind me asking what happened."

He shrugged weakly. "My momma got sick. I had to hurry home to take care of her. I had to do more stuff around the house. I fed Vincent, walked him, bathed him, did my homework, and then read momma a bed time story-- but that was mostly for me, cause I missed being around her."

"Oh, dude. That's rough. You had to grow up quick… but that doesn't explain…"

Walt swallowed a lump in his throat. "I'm worried, Mr. Hurley. I think we're in really deep trouble, we just don't know it yet." He admitted, with tears in his eyes.

"What kind of trouble?" He asked cautiously, praying inwardly that Walt couldn't sense what the 'adults' had all been talking about.

"You promise not to laugh at me?" He asked, his fingers stirring the stand anxiously.

"Promise. Besides, if nothing else, laugh back at me, I get used to it."

This made Walt smile. He liked Mr. Hurley. "I don't think anyone's coming for us. I think we're lost. And…"

"And--" Hurley prodded a little.

"_Idon'tthinkSanta'sgoingtobeabletofindus_." He said in a rush, closing his eyes, fully expecting Mr. Hurley to laugh at him.

Hurley stifled a curse. "Da- Dern… I had forgotten about that." 'Shit, shit, SHIT, shit. Christmas is coming. Dammit! How could I have forgotten!' He thought angrily to himself.

He put a reassuring hand on Walt's shoulder. "Walt, I think the Big Guy knows exactly where we are. Heck, I bet he has special plans for landing on the beach, that is, if we are here that long--"

"Mr. Hurley. Can I tell you a secret? Do you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not my father, not Mr. Jack or Mr. Charlie, or even_ Ms. Claire_."

'_Whoa, this is big_.' He thought suddenly. "Okay, but if it's something that might get you hurt, I reserve the right to break the promise okay?"

Walt nodded, on the inside it made him feel good that Mr. Hurley cared enough about him to say that. "Okay…" He paused, leaned in and dropped his voice down really low. "I don't think we're ever going to get off this island… I think _It _likes us here. I don't think _It's _going to let us go without a fight."

Hurley swallowed hard on a '_Hell yeah_', and nodded. "But that doesn't mean we have to quit hoping, you know that, _right_?"

Walt nodded. "Oh, I pray for it every night when I go to bed. I bet Vincent does to. Doncha boy?" He asked as the dog ran up to them with the ball in his mouth. The dog dropped it onto the sandy beach floor and answered with a resounding _"WOOF" _as Walt and Hurley scratched his head and back. They both laughed at the dogs obedient, if not apropos response.

"Good dog, good dog," Hurley scrubbed his fingers against the dogs back, causing the dog to raise his nose in delight. "We need all the prayers we can get."

"Yeah, he's a good dog. He helped me a lot with Momma, keeping her company when I was at school and all… you know, doggie stuff. Like, when I had to walk to the store or something, he always guarded the door, and would only let the mailman in." Walt couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. "Believe me, just ask the delivery man, woo." He shook his head. "Poor guy… when I got home he was on top of his delivery vehicle, and Vincent had his paws on the hood and he was growling at him."

Hurley nodded. "Yeah, and he was pretty good at warning us about those boars in the fuselage."

"Yeah, he's a good dog, a good friend, and an even better guard dog." He hugged his dog warmly around the neck. "I don't know what I would do with out him."

Hurley looked at Walt long and hard as he sat there, hugging his dog and holding on tight. He was in a world of pain, and there wasn't much he could do to alleviate the pressure-- except. An idea popped into his head at that very moment. His eyes widened, and he barely hid a smile that wanted to spread across his face.

He put his hand on Walt's back. "We'll never have to find out, hopefully." He smiled sadly as Walt turned and nodded in agreement. He decided to sit with him for a while, because sometimes just sitting and being quiet was better than long drawn out conversations.

Together they watched the entire beach all day long, talking some, but for the most part just enjoying each others company, until the fires began to illuminate the beach and people began to gather around them for warmth. _"WALT_!! Hey Walt!" Michael called out.

Walt looked up suddenly, as he had been daydreaming and not paying attention to the time. "Oh shoot. It's getting late…" he turned to Hurley. "You're cool Mr. Hurley. I like you." He said as he stood and turned to Michael. "_Coming dad_!!" He called out, then turned back to Hurley. "So… Uh… See you--"

"Only if you promise to keep me a seat. I like people watching. It's pretty cool."

Walt smiled, happy that he wouldn't be alone in his worries anymore. "Okay, c'mon Vincent, let's go boy."

As they walked away Hurley couldn't help but smile like an idiot. He got up and walked over to where Charlie, Sayid, Claire and Sawyer sat around a fire. Claire, Charlie and Sayid were talking in a quiet tone, while Sawyer just sat on the other side of the fire sulking, or skulking… Hurley wasn't quite sure.

He sat on a the fallen log and whistled.

_Oh we need a little Christmas…  
Right this very minute…  
It hasn't snowed a single flurry,  
But Santa, dear, were in a hurry;  
So climb down the chimney;  
Turn on the brightest string of lights I've ever seen.  
Slice up the fruitcake; _

"Fruitcake indeed." Snorted Sawyer.

Hurley shot him a nasty look. "Sorry, guess I got a little carried away." He apologized sheepishly looking away.

Sayid shook his head. "Don't apologize," he shot a glare at Sawyer. "Sometimes, to get our minds off something stressful, we have tendency to do the most frivolous of things to occupy our minds."

Charlie and Claire both nodded. "Aye mate! That and you just reminded me that it's December!" She shook her head in amazement. "Can you believe we've been here for months?"

Charlie looked out into the ocean, it was cold and black and as motionless as ever. "Days, weeks, they all seem to blend together. And it's a bloody tropical island. There's torrential or blinding sun, there's not much room for snow in between the two extremes."

"I still say he's fruitcake." They all glared at Sawyer. "Hey, it's the middle of December, we're on a tropical island that's got polar bears, some 'monster' or creator that wants to wants to make Monster Chow ** © of me xD>** out of us, and Lard-o over here is singing about 'We need a little freakin Christmas'… What we need is to be rescued before we all become Monster kabobs** © of me AGAIN xD>!**"

Charlie stood up suddenly to attempt to attack him, but Hurley put his hand on his chest and pushed him back down with ease. "I didn't sing it to cause shit to get any more stirred up than they already are," he glanced meaningfully towards Sawyer. "I did it cause…" he sighed heavily. "I need help doing something." His gazed turned warily to Sawyer. "I need your help too. But if you're just going to diss it the entire time, then dude, feel free to go sit at another fire." Wit that Hurley turned to look into the fire and away from Sawyer.

After a few seconds he heard Sawyer get up and walk away, or so he though, unil he felt someone tapping on his shoulder.

He looked up, at Sawyer.

"I'm in. What exactly are we doing?"

Hurley couldn't help but smile. Scooting over, he looked around at the others assembled. "You guy in too?"

Sayid looked at everyone gathered at their fire and nodded. If it was something to get his mind of Nadia, Danielle, her ominous warnings, the nightmares that plagued any attempt at sleep he made, and his own self-persecution, then he was all for it. "Yes, I am in."

Charlie and Claire looked at one another and smiled like cats that had just swallowed the canary. "We're in." They giggled at themselves.

Hurley smiled. "I hope you dudes don't bail after you hear what I need help with."

Sawyer plopped down next to him. "So spill, man."

He took a deep breath, shut his eyes and blurted it out before he lost his nerve. "I need help making Christmas for Walt."

Silence.

He really hated silence. You know what he hated even more.

_**Awkward **_silence. You know what I'm talking about. The kind of silence where you can hear people breathing and crickets chirping. Yeah, that's the kind I'm talking about.

Claire was the first to react. "Oh dear, poor bloke. I hadn't even thought about him. How old is he?"

"Ten. I was talking to him today--"

"So that's where you snuck off too. Jack was looking for you, ya know?"

Even by fire light they could tell that he was flustered and that his cheeks had turned red. "Really…I mean…Ugh, I'm not so good at the whole being needed thing-- see I was on the beach just mind my P's and Q's--" Sayid gave him a curious look. "I was minding my own bidness, dude." Sayid nodded, understanding. "When Vincent, his dog, almost plowed me over getting to his ball. So I watched where the dog went and found Walt. He was just sitting there, playing with Vincent, looking all depressed and crap, and I can't deal with that. Ya know, kids, they should be like having fun and living their lives before they get all the crap that comes with growing up… you know what I mean??" They all nodded in agreement.

"Well, I asked him if I could join him and sat down," he winced, realizing that he was about to break a confidence that he sworn not to… but on the other hand he was concerned about him and what would happen on the 25th if nothing happened, if he woke up and there were no presents and such.

"Having second thoughts?" Sayid asking, as though he could see right through him and into his internal dialogue.

"Well… Kinda… See, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but I made him promise that if it were something bad, you know, like a secret that shouldn't be kept like, you know, someone hurting him or something… ya know… but it's not that kind of secret… and maaan… I feel about telling people."

Sayid put a comforting hand on his arm. "Just tell us what he need to know."

He nodded. "Well, I asked him what he was doing, and he was he was watching us." This caused everyone to sit up a little straighter and look at him a little oddly.

"Watching_ us_? What you mean, watching,_ **us**_" Sawyer asked.

"I meant what I said, he's watching us."

"What kind of _'watching'_, exactly, is he doing." Sayid asked, a pit forming in the pit of his stomach.

Hurley shook his head quickly. "It's nothing mean or anything. I asked him why, and he said," he bit his lip anxiously. "He said he worries about us."

_"Us_? All of us?" Claire asked, a hand covering her mouth.

Hurley nodded. "And dude's, from where he was sitting, he could see everything without being seen!" He added for emphasis.

Sawyer shook his head ruefully. "I don't know man, it's a big beach--"

"Naw, really, Sawyer? I would have never noticed. _Der_!" He rolled his eyes. "I was there, and let me tell you, we were still technically on the beach, and from where I was sitting I could see all the goings on in, on, and around the beach." He could tell they were a little skeptical still. "Want more proof? Okay, everyone know what you were doing about 10 am this morning Australia time?" They all nodded. "So do I. Sayid, you were talking to Kate and Jack. Afterwards you walked away, working on the transmitter thingy-ma-jig and looked at something that was in an envelope and looked kind of sad." He shot Sayid an apologetic look, Sayid nodded, knowing his intent was not to hurt but instead to illustrate his point.

Hurley turned to Sawyer. "And you were reading that book of Boone's that washed up on beach, but every once and a while you'd read some letter you got stuck in your pocket, would get really upset and start smoking-- he worries about that too, it's a nasty habit you got there." Sawyer kept his emotional outward reaction as guarded as he could, but on the inside he was both upset, disturbed, and in an odd way, touched. Someone cared about him, someone worried about him. Granted, that someone was 10 years old and probably had his own issues, but someone cared, and that was more than he had had since he had been a child.

"And you two were together, under the shade tree, talking, giggling and Claire even tried to teach Charlie how to swim in the shallow part…" he winced. "Dude, he about sent Vincent to retrieve you that once." Charlie grimaced, he **REALLY **needed to practice floating, as he had this tendency to sink like a rock to the bottom.

"Need I go on?"

They all shook their heads to the negative. 

"Oh goody," he rolled his eyes dramatically. "Anyhoo… As I was saying, we got to talking, and I brought up the fact that he was a kid, he didn't need to worry about anything other than cooties, his grades and his dog, and he informed me, that he hadn't been a kid for a while."

"How so?" Charlie asked curiously.

"His mom got sick, I guess she passed away. We talked about it a lot after a while, but there's some stuff, I just don't feel comfortable telling you guys. It's nothing personal, guys…I just feel bad, because I feel like I'm kind of breaking the confidence of a kid that worries more about us than we worry about us. Seriously guys, I think he knows more about our daily routines than **_we _**know about our daily routines!"

Claire could feel herself tearing up, and she wasn't entirely sure if it were just the hormones. "Did he say anything else?" She asked softly.

"Yeah," he paused, then added softly, "He thinks we're lost. And he thinks we're in more trouble than we realize… and he doesn't think Santa's going to find us."

Charlie shook his head sadly as Claire leaned her head against his shoulder and sniffled. "Poor chap, his first Christmas without his mum and it's crash landed on an island that's doesn't like having visitors." He stroked her hair lovingly. "I'm still in. Whatever you need, mate, we'll help find it or make it, or bull shit our way through it."

Sayid looked deep into the fire and across at the fire next to theirs where Michael, Sun, Walt, Vincent and Locke sat around the fire. Only Sun and Locke and of course the dog, seemed to be paying much attention, if any at all towards Walt. Not that Michael was totally ignoring Walt, it's just that Michael seemed more caught up in the "adult" things, to be tuned into his son's world. But even through the fire Sayid could see the loneliness that surrounded him. He sat there, just staring into the fire, looking around occasionally, but mostly just staring into the fire, lost in worry and contemplation.

Sayid turned to the others after a second. "I'm still in. Whatever is needed, I will help."

Sawyer had been watching Walt as well, and had seen what Sayid had seen, except Sayid hadn't seen the tear that run down his cheek from where he was sitting, Sawyer saw it though.

"I'm in." He stood up, suddenly. "I have to go, but in the morning, if yall have something more planned, tell me. I just… I have to do something." He walked off, or was it ran off.

Walt watched as Sawyer walked past the row of fires and went back to his shelter. He sighed heavily. Sawyer was always running from something. The island was only so big, how long could he run before he ran out of island to run on?

----

"_We-e-e-ll_, that was odd. Even for Sawyer." Hurley commented.

Sayid couldn't help but smile a little. Sometimes he thought of Hurley as their own personal Santa, always-- for the most part-- Jolly and giving to others. Except he had heard Hurley laugh, and he didn't Ho- Ho- Ho.

"Hurley, did you have any ideas so far?" He asked curiously.

Hurley nodded. "A few. I know we don't have electricity or anything… but is there anyway we could make a run-way?"

Sayid's brain started working and he smiled. "I think we can make a run way."

----

Little did they know that they were being watched, when they were sleeping and when they awake.

All it takes is the faith of a mustard seed for a Christmas Miracle to happen.

---

Reviews and reply and such are ever so muchlee appreciated. I've a feedback WHORE!!!!

pps... I'm a schmuck.

Danke  
Dw-- trying something different if yens hadn't noticed.


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